


Project Warwick

by soulcraftandmoral



Category: otp: wait that's my word - Fandom
Genre: Conspiracy, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:47:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21824623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soulcraftandmoral/pseuds/soulcraftandmoral
Summary: Chasten signed his life away to them when he was in debt, but he thought it would be over when he graduates. But then Lis Smith called.
Relationships: Chasten Buttigieg/Pete Buttigieg
Comments: 16
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

“Glezman, are you available to grade papers tonight?” 

Chasten Glezman looks up from his laptop, momentarily forgetting what class he’s even in. He has a big exam in a few days and the only real study time he seems to have at this point is in the back of the lecture hall during the three back to back classes that his mentor, Dr. Marsh, teaches. Chasten is, in theory, supposed to be the Teaching Assistant for this class but Marsh is kind of particular about how students are graded and that wasn’t really what Chasten was hired for anyway. It’s a pretty sweet gig if you ask him, not really being required to do much except sit in on classes and hold office hours on the off-chance that an undergrad actually shows up to get help in a humanities class. 

He takes a deep breath and says he’d be happy to, but internally he whines that of all the weeks he actually has to work in this job, it’s the week of this fucking test. He walks to the front of the lecture hall to get the assignment from Marsh, but he doesn’t plan on opening it until he’s back in his apartment. There’s no telling how much work this is going to take, and he thinks he deserves a little bit more time to study. 

By 9 PM Chasten is starting to look like he’s building a fort out of books in the library. He’s moved on from reading lecture notes to reading books nearby, only vaguely aware that he’s straying further and further from his topic. He’s copying some interesting parts out of a chapter that he thinks might be useful for a paper in another class when his pen runs out of ink. He rolls his eyes and reaches into his backpack. He probably doesn’t even have another pen.  _ Maybe it’s a sign _ , he thinks as he fumbles around the bottom of his bag. He’s not sure what happens first: his hand finding the stray piece of paper or him remembering Marsh said he needed him tonight. He unfolds it quickly, pushing his books away. 

_ Ten page minimum. Intensive project that took a while to prepare, I expect you to take some time working on this.  _ The words were handwritten, and Chasten looks at the time on his laptop. Ten pages means 10 o’clock and that’s in thirty minutes, so it looks like he’s leaving his pile of books on the desk. He feels rude standing up and walking out without cleaning up behind himself, but he knows better than to be late. 

He pulls into the parking lot with five minutes to spare. Marsh is already there, of course. He gets out of the car and greets him, starting to feel nervous. There’s another car here that doesn’t belong to either of them. That’s unusual, since Marsh usually gives him his assignment alone. He forces himself to not look anxious when Marsh turns to the building and invites him to follow him inside. This is not going to be like the normal assignments. 

When they get inside, there is a brunette woman waiting for them, but Chasten doesn’t know her. This isn’t unusual. He tries to avoid reading the news, preferring to know as little as possible about this job. He sits down across from her, purposefully keeping his face blank. 

“You can relax, I’m not here to tell you to kill anyone.” Well, his face isn’t blank now. He coughs out a laugh, but the woman only gives him a second to think of a response to that before she continues, “You came recommended by Marsh, though I don’t know why because reading your file it seems like your most valuable contribution has been getting a single state senator to endorse our guy right before he lost the governor’s race.”

Chasten doesn’t really have an answer to that, since technically she’s not wrong. They’ve been trying to get him to take a bigger role and start earning his keep, but he’s managed to push it off this far with small jobs that don’t actually make much of an impact. He wants to keep it that way, so that once school is over and he’s out of this debt that he’ll be done with them. He finally settles on, “I’m sorry, have we met?” which is a stupid question.

She rolls her eyes, “My name is Lis. It’s important that when I tell you that again in a few years, you pretend you’ve never heard it before.”

“A few years?” Lis slides a contract over. Chasten glances at it and looks back up. She hasn’t mentioned what the job is, and he knows that’s because she’s hoping he’ll be swayed by the money first. He’s still considered new at this, but he’s not stupid. “What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to date someone.”

No, absolutely not. Chasten looks over at Marsh, annoyed. He knows about him, and he’s incredibly annoyed that Marsh would volunteer him for this. He’s been on a few dates, but they were one night only and the women just needed him to look the part for a few hours. “I don’t do relationships. I was told that wouldn’t be an issue.” 

“Did you look at the contract?”

“I did. The answer is no. I’m not the type of person you’re looking for for this job.” 

“Yes you are.” Lis says flatly. She pushes the contract closer to Chasten, flipping it to the second page and circling something. Chasten looks down. It’s a name. It’s a guy’s name. 

“The DNC wants me to date a guy?” he laughs. The party of progress wasn’t  _ that  _ progressive. 

Marsh finally speaks for the first time all night. “He lives a few hours away. We’re looking at a possible presidential run.”

Chasten’s eyes widen. He’s absolutely not doing this. The election is in a few months and Hillary Clinton is running, which means they’re talking about 2020 or even later. He is not signing his life away for this long. There is not enough money in the world for him to continue doing this shit after he graduates.  _ How much money is it anyway?  _ He finally flips back to the first page and looks for a number. Oh, he should not have done that at all. For just a second, he thinks he’d be stupid to turn it down. He looks up.

Lis doesn’t wait for him to ask questions, she just starts talking. “He came out this year, and he’s not dating. He's planning on running for DNC chair, but we don't want him to win that. We’ve decided he’s running in 2020 if Hillary loses next year. It’s a long term job, but we’re going to continue to fund your masters along with the money specified in here. You’ll need to get a job, obviously, because he’s not stupid enough to not question how you can afford to live once you’re finished with school and the TA thing is done.” She opens her mouth to say something else but Chasten stops her.

“Wait. He doesn’t know?”

“No. His campaign style is a bit more...honest. Which doesn’t work well with a fake boyfriend, as you can probably imagine.”

Chasten sits back, unsure if he wants to laugh at the ridiculousness of this proposal. “So you want me to date a guy who is maybe going to run for president in FOUR YEARS and is going to be out of the loop for all of this? Is this a joke?”

Lis doesn’t laugh. “Your resume says you can act.”

“In plays! For a few hours! Not for years. There has to be someone better suited for this. Maybe just let the guy date who he wants, even?”

“Be charming, because he’s going to have to want to date you.” 

Chasten feels like the room is spinning. He has said no multiple times, but now he can’t actually remember if he said it out loud. It doesn’t matter anyway. You don’t say no to them. They picked him, and signing this contract is merely a formality. It’s not like he could sue them. He’s now starting to feel like if he doesn’t get out of this room he’s going to vomit in front of her. He wonders if that would make her change her mind and take back the job. He’s suddenly very angry at this man he doesn’t even know for fucking up his day like this, as if it’s somehow his fault when all he did was be gay. Now that he thinks about it, that’s probably all Chasten did to deserve the job, too. He doesn’t know any other gay people who work here. Stupidly, he can only think to ask, “But what if he wins?”

Lis smiles, but it’s not at all encouraging. She’s pretty smug about the whole thing. “Oh, he’ll win.”

That’s at least 8 years he’s going to have to be doing this. There is no way they’re going to let him out of it if this guy wins. For just a split second, he imagines a life in the White House.  _ No,  _ he reminds himself.  _ You don’t want to do this _ . Marsh puts a hand on his shoulder. 

“He’s a good guy, we have a profile for you to take. You’ll like him. He’s going to make a good president. And you’re going to help him. You’re going to help us elect the first gay President of the United States. You’re going to make history. Think about what this means, how different things will be because of you. You’re getting the chance to serve your country.”

What is this, good cop, bad cop? He doesn’t need someone to tell him how incredibly historic it’d be to have a gay president. That’s not what this is about. They’re not asking him to vote for the guy. They’re not really asking him to do anything. They’re  _ telling  _ him that he’s about to tie himself to that guy. And they’re going to give him five million dollars to do it. 

“I’m not the right guy for this. People can’t know who I am for something like this. My brothers are deeply religious and have always had a problem with my ‘lifestyle,’” Chasten makes air quotes. “Can’t be a president if you can’t even get your boyfriend’s family to like you.” 

He thinks that he made a pretty good argument on the fly, but Lis doesn’t even seem to consider it before answering. He’s really starting to not like her. “We know that. We can use that. It’s not a liability, really.”

He’s not really sure why this is the thing that absolutely pisses him off. She’s in here telling him to lie to a man and pretend to be the love of his life for years, but Chasten is fuming at the idea of her only considering how his family will react in terms of how it will help this guy’s campaign. He opens his mouth to argue back before he realizes he doesn’t have an answer. What could he do, complain that she doesn’t care about him? She doesn’t. That’s not an argument, that won’t make her rethink this, that’s just a fact.

“How do I meet him?” The words come out in a sort of sigh, and even he’s shocked by what he says. He’s apparently already come to terms with the fact that he’s not getting out of this. 

Lis sits up, realizing he’s agreed at the same time that he realizes it himself. “We’re trying to make this as organic as possible and you’re kind of far away to just stumble into a bar in his neighborhood. So we’ve set you up a profile on Hinge. I’ve taken the liberty of changing the preferences to get you as close to him as possible so you don’t have to swipe that much.”  _ How kind of you _ , Chasten thinks, but she keeps talking. “I work with him, so I’ll monitor all of this until you meet but then you’re going to be taking the lead on this. He’s the mayor of a city in Indiana, so he’s busy and you’re going to have to go down there most of the time. We’ll have a new contract for you after he wins the primaries. You’ll get five million from that election and another five once he wins the general.”

She pushes the contract towards him again, this time with a pen. Chasten gets brave as he picks it up, fueled mostly by anger that this is even happening. “I want you to double that. And I want to teach while I’m doing this. If you’re going to make me do this right out of grad school, I at least want to work in my field.” She doesn’t even say anything at this and just nods, so Chasten writes it on the face of the contract, hands the pen back to her to initial next to it, and signs it before he can hesitate any longer. 

She stands up. “I’m doing press and coordinating the majority of his campaigns, so you’ll start seeing me more often in the coming months. Remember, he’ll be introducing us.” Chasten stands up too, and Lis hands him a flash drive and a cell phone. “Here’s everything you need to know about him and you’ll be using this phone from now on. I expect you to be making progress on this starting tomorrow. I’ll be watching out to make sure you don’t fuck it up, but you need to be proactive here.” Before he can answer, she’s picked up her bag and walked out.

Marsh looks over at him, and at least manages to look slightly guilty when he smiles at him. Chasten doesn’t bother to return it before turning and leaving too. He doesn’t realize it until he gets in the car, but he’s been holding his breath. He thinks it might be because he kind of wants to cry, so he starts the car and heads to his apartment. Not here.

  
  


He’s driving slow and he doesn’t bother to turn on his radio. He’s trying to process everything that just happened, but it feels like something that happened in a movie he was watching rather than something he took part in. Sure he tried to turn down the job, but he knew when he started that he wasn’t going to be able to walk out of the room without orders. This is technically what they recruited him for, though when they told him he’d be helping people get elected he thought it’d be more like quiet campaigning and convincing undecided delegates.

He makes it home and realizes he’s been clutching the flash drive in his hand the entire way there. It’s almost midnight but he knows he won’t be able to sleep. He pulls his laptop out of his bag and sits down on the couch, not bothering to turn the lights on. This is actually the most familiar part, his is how they usually give him profiles to make it easier for him to connect with targets. He starts with the basics. Name - Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg.  _ That’s a weird ass name _ . Occupation - mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Chasten remembers that Lis said that, but now that he’s thinking about it, it seems crazy to him that they expect a mayor to run for president and win.  _ Must be some mayor _ . Parents still live in town, no siblings. They’ve included a few pictures of him and he has to admit, he’s attractive. Not quite what Chasten was expecting when they told him he’d be dating the future president. He was in the military and he went to Harvard  _ and  _ Oxford. He’s pretty sure this guy is going to be insufferable, which sort of makes him feel better. At least if he’s going to be stringing this Peter guy along, he sounds like the type of person who probably wouldn’t have gotten a date otherwise. And of course Chasten deserves the karma of being tied to an annoying know-it-all in this fake relationship. 

Chasten looks through some more information about what he likes to do in his free time and what his schedule tends to look like. Based on that, Chasten’s probably going to be expected to be making trips to South Bend every weekend, which is going to add up pretty quickly.  _ I should have asked when they’re going to start paying me _ , he thinks, annoyed at himself for not being more practical in the meeting. He usually gets paid at the end of the job but there’s no way he’s expected to work this much and get a lump sum at the end. He decides he’ll ask Marsh in class tomorrow and clicks on the folder labeled “Record.” He’s sure it’s just going to be files of his voting record or details of what he’s done as mayor, but for a brief second Chasten thinks it’d be funny to open it and find out this dude got busted for pot. Alas, just some documents about how he renamed some streets and updated the sewage system, plus his voting record that shows he’s been voting in every election since he turned 18 and he voted Democrat every time. There is a video, and Chasten hits play, leaning back on the couch to get more comfortable. He’s fucking tired, and he’s probably going to fail his test. 

The video starts with Peter holding a pocket watch, and Chasten turns his volume up a bit more. The guy is kind of quiet, and he finds himself leaning in. He’s talking about transforming his city, and while Chasten could really not care less about this city he’s never been to, he is pulled into the story almost immediately. The guy is a fantastic speaker and more attractive than his pictures give him credit for. He watches the entire thing, and then flips back to the folder on his record to look at it a bit more closely. A lot of it is still boring, but he sees the message in the speech being shown in his work. He’s sure he’s not supposed to be so surprised that a politician seems to mean what he says, but he can’t help that he’s a bit jaded. Chasten pulls up his browser and types his name in, having to go back twice to make sure he spells it right. The first article is from the local newspaper, with a picture of Peter in front of the press. He opens it to realize it’s his coming out letter, and he reads it once, and then scrolls to the top and reads it again. It’s not very personal, in fact he doesn’t talk about himself much at all in his own letter. He talks about equality and acceptance and how people aren’t that different from one another. He talks about how he wants people to know because he wants to make it easier for someone else. Chasten recognizes that desire to want to do good for the majority even if it makes himself uncomfortable. He feels a pang of guilt each time he reads about Peter wanting to get married and have a family. He supposes he could still do that once he’s out of office and away from Chasten. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to get a date as a former POTUS. No, he doesn’t like this guilty feeling. 

He clicks back to his search and looks a bit more, skimming the headlines to see if there’s anything wrong with this guy. He’s still convinced he has to be an incredibly annoying person to talk to just because of everything he’s accomplished at...how old is he? 33. He’s only seven years younger than Peter, and suddenly he’s feeling very unaccomplished. 

He looks at the time and decides he’s absolutely not going to class tomorrow. The only thing he has tomorrow is Marsh’s classes anyway, and he’s still pretty fucking pissed at him for setting this up, so he doesn’t feel guilty for not being there. He wonders if he could convince someone to get him out of this test he has, citing some need for him to work on this new assignment. He honestly just wants to go home. He can’t really go home right now though because all he wants to do is talk about this and he can’t. He doesn’t know where he can go but he has to get out of here. If he leaves now, it will give him some time before he has to do this. If he’s away from here, he won’t be able to use this dating app. Speaking of...he reaches into his bag and pulls out the new phone. He could have told them he was already using dating apps, but he’s assuming they’re going to be looking through this phone. He turns it on while trying to decide if he’s comfortable enough to just sleep on the couch. He ultimately forces himself up and pads to his room, noticing the phone has just one app already downloaded - Hinge.  _ Subtle, Lis _ . After settling into bed, he opens the app. He’s used it before, but it’s more geared towards finding a relationship instead of short flings. 

His profile has been set up already, and he’s kind of surprised that they stayed pretty true to his personality. They overemphasized some things different from what he would have chosen, but he agrees with most of the answers they gave. He changes the answer for his favorite tv show to Game of Thrones - he’s never even seen The West Wing, he can’t begin to pretend it’s his favorite. He checks the preferences and Lis was correct, she pretty much blocked off anyone who isn’t a white guy in his thirties with brown hair.. He notices the preference for religion is checked to Christian only and pauses. Chasten isn’t really religious and he’s sort of assumed most gay men aren’t. It’s hard to believe any of them didn’t have the same awful experience of coming out in the church. Add it to the list of reasons Chasten desperately wants to hate Peter. 

He flips back to the actual page of profiles. Everyone is in Chicago. He guesses that it’s probably set up to start close by, so he starts pushing the X for all of them, pausing only if he sees someone also named Peter, just in case. He does this for a while before he realizes there are a lot of gay men in Chicago. Like, a lot. He’s desperately bored. He turns on Netflix and lets his last show start back where he left off, just hoping for something to entertain him while he narrows the field. He lasts about five minutes before he sighs and puts his phone down. It’s well past midnight and he’s been up since 5:30, and he’s not about to stay up any later to swipe on this damn app. He turns off his alarm and puts the phone down. He’s over it and he’s going to sleep. 

He doesn’t pick his new phone up for two days. He uses his self-appointed day off to study for his test and by the time he falls back in bed, he’s exhausted but he’s sure he is going to make an A. He looks over at the phone sitting where he left it, but ignores it and faces away from it to fall asleep. The next day, he wakes up to a call. From Lis. “What’s the progress?”

“It’s been two days.”

“I told you I expected you to start working on this immediately.”

Chasten rolls his eyes only because she can’t see him. “I did. I read the profile and did some research, and I updated my profile on Hinge. It’s not my fault he didn’t like it.”

“That is literally your fault. Figure it out. I need you to reach out first because I’m not risking him seeing you first and passing.”

_ Okay, ouch _ . Chasten isn’t really sure how to reply to that. He settles with, “Um. Okay.” 

She hangs up, and Chasten is feeling not at all motivated to get back on a dating app, but he opens it anyway in case her next step is to show up at his apartment. He’s back to passing on everyone in Chicago when he remembers there’s a maximum distance setting. He goes to the preferences and messes with different settings when he notices he can change  _ his  _ location. So he sets it to South Bend, maybe not the most subtle but at least he won’t have to look through this many profiles. 

He finds Peter’s profile within minutes and doesn’t even bother to read his answers or his bio. He clicks like next to a picture of Peter at the beach, trying to decide if that makes him look too objectifying. He cancels that action and chooses a different picture that’s after it, so Peter knows he saw the beach pic and kept going through his profile. Chasten knows how to correctly use a dating app. 


	2. Chapter 2

He’s cooking lunch when he hears the notification.  _ Peter matched with you! _ Well thank goodness, because he really wouldn’t be worth $5 million if it all ended right here. He’s trying to play it cool and keeps cooking, deciding not to reply until later. Only he doesn’t need to wait, because Peter has already sent him a message. He decidedly does  _ not _ know how to correctly use a dating app, which Chasten thinks is kind of adorable. 

“What did you think of the last Game of Thrones episode?” Chasten is considering sending this screenshot to Lis just to prove he is good at this, since that was the only input he actually gave on this profile and it got him a match. He forces himself to at least finish cooking; he’s almost done and he still wants to be cool about it. Can’t let this guy think he just lives on his phone. Once he’s got a plate full of pasta he sits down and opens the app again, typing up a quick greeting and then a answer about how he would have liked the episode if they’d just followed his idea to change one little thing in the middle. 

Peter replies almost instantly, and they end up talking for about an hour. Chasten was wrong - Peter actually is interesting to talk to. Changing topics is a little awkward, though, since he has to keep himself from accidentally asking something that reveals he knows who Peter is. Peter doesn’t mention his job, and when Chasten asks, he sidesteps it by saying he works for his hometown. He gets it, but he doesn’t like knowing things and still waiting for Peter to tell him. It makes it too easy to potentially fuck up. 

Peter does tell him that he’s off work right now for minor surgery. Chasten considers trying an obvious joke about making him feel better, but he realizes Peter seems like the type of person who would be mortified by a sex joke and never talk to him again, so he goes back to his normal approach. Peter also brings up that Chasten’s location on Hinge says he’s in South Bend, which forces Chasten to have to stop and search for something in South Bend that he can use as an excuse for being there recently. He settles on a weak “just passing through” that feels stupid even as he sends it, but Peter doesn’t mention it, just asks him what he’s studying. When he asks Peter what he went to school for, he expects a boastful reply about all of his accolades, but Peter just says that he has a degree in history and another in economics.  _ Way to sell yourself short, dude _ , Chasten thinks before realizing he would have been annoyed if he bragged about it too. 

They talk for a while longer before Chasten makes up having to go study (which he probably should do anyway) and makes his move. “Are you free this week to Facetime? I wanna see you but we don’t need to make a trip so quickly.” Peter agrees and manages to sound like Chasten made him nervous just by asking to talk on the phone, which is honestly kind of cute. Lis checks in later and Chasten is sort of proud to tell her he’s got plans with Peter later in the week, but all she sends him is the thumbs up emoji. He rolls his eyes and goes back to his books.

A few days go by with Peter and Chasten sending each other sporadic messages throughout the day and Chasten is starting to find it easier to compartmentalize his side job with school again. This is obviously more work than anything else he’s had to do, but it still doesn’t compare to when he was working two jobs and sleeping in his car. Peter is still keeping quiet about his job, even when Chasten kind of hints that he wants to know what he does. Chasten knows it’s smart from Peter’s perspective to not draw attention to it, but he wants to be told before he starts making trips to South Bend.

Chasten is getting out of his car to go into his apartment when he gets a message from Peter. “You almost ready to talk?” They had made plans to FaceTime when Chasten got out of class, and Peter is right on time. He replies that he needs a few minutes to get settled at home first and walks inside, scanning over his living room to see what he can clean in the next five minutes. He normally keeps his place pretty clean, but it’s been a long few weeks. 

He settles on his couch and takes a deep breath before hitting call on Peter’s contact. He shouldn’t be nervous but he is, just slightly. Peter answers almost immediately, and Chasten’s first thought is that the video they gave him didn’t do him justice. He’s wearing a button down shirt, but Chasten notices the back of the neck is turned up slightly, as if Peter had just quickly taken his tie off to look more casual. “Hey there,” Chasten smiles softly.

“Howdy! Hi. Hey, umm. How was class?” Chasten works hard not to chuckle at his attempt to be casual. Peter looks like he is doing his best not to show that he’s nervous, and it makes Chasten’s heart swell. Sure it could be because this is one of the guy’s first times talking to a guy like this, but Chasten chooses to believe he, personally, makes Peter nervous. 

“It was good. I had an exam yesterday, so I’m glad it’s behind me now. How was work?”

“I had a lot of meetings. There are a few new projects coming up and we have to work out some details later than I would have hoped.” Peter is fiddling with something off screen and avoiding looking at himself in the corner. Chasten readjusts on the couch, which catches Peter’s eye. He was braver over text, it seems. He sort of looks like he’s trying to think of something to say, so Chasten decides to save him from realizing it’s noticeable.

“You moved back after college, right? What made you want to come back?” Chasten asks him so that he can get him to relax and talk about himself, but once Peter starts talking, he realizes he actually cares about the answer. By how quickly Peter has an answer to that, he’s assuming it’s not the first time he’s been asked this, probably weekly during his campaign. 

Peter talks for a few minutes, almost to the point of rambling, when he realizes who he’s talking to and looks back at his phone and apologizes for getting carried away. 

“That’s okay, I like watching you talk.” 

Peter looks like he just melted right there on the phone, and Chasten has to work very hard not to look smug about it. He switches topics to telling Peter about his family, and Peter relaxes into the conversation more, asking questions and actually looking at the screen with the confidence of a politician in his thirties. Peter asks if he has any siblings and Chasten tries to keep the bitterness out of his voice when he says that he has two brothers, but he apparently doesn’t do a great job of it because he notices Peter’s brows furrow. He doesn’t pursue it and instead tells Chasten a story about a dinner he had with his parents recently. Chasten is grateful. 

The longer they talk, the more Peter’s personality comes out, and Chasten is once again surprised at how wrong his assumption was that Peter would be insufferable. He makes some dorky jokes that Chasten is pretty sure he’d roll his eyes at if his dad made them, but they’re almost cute coming out of Peter’s mouth. He is still visibly nervous, more so when Chasten compliments him, and he knows it won't be hard to keep Peter interested. Chasten has always been a charmer and a natural flirt, he’s confident he can keep that cute pink tint on Peter’s cheeks.

Peter ends the call after almost an hour, and Chasten grins when he realizes he is trying to figure out how to casually ask him out. Chasten isn't casual at all when he says, “I'd like to see you in person soon. What do you say I stop in for coffee next weekend?”

There's that blush again. It's kind of adorable how new Peter is at everything, especially when he breathes out, “I'd like that a lot. I mean, yeah, sure, I'll check and make sure I'm not busy.” Chasten laughs at that and agrees before they hang up. This is easier than he expected it to be. 

So that's how he ends up leaving Chicago to drive to South Bend for a cup of coffee. He told Peter that he was going to see his parents and would be stopping on the way, but that was a lie. He plans on driving back to Chicago right after, but with the way traffic seems to be going, it's going to be a very late drive. He didn't account for rush hour traffic when he planned this, and now he's basically parked on the interstate. He texts Peter to let him know, and Peter suggests they meet for dinner instead. He almost wishes that Peter had been less accommodating; Chasten is exhausted and wishes he could just turn around and go back home. Since they were only meeting for coffee, Chasten isn’t even dressed for a dinner date, he’s just wearing a short sleeved button down and jeans. He hints that he doesn’t want to go anywhere nice, and Peter promises he knows the perfect place. 

He reaches Peter’s house and is just starting to get out of the car when Peter opens his front door and steps out. He’s dressed casually, wearing a flannel button down that makes Chasten a little soft. He turns after locking his door and smiles at Chasten before walking down his steps to the car. Chasten thinks back on their Facetime call and as Pete gets closer, Chasten greets him, “Howdy, hi!”

At some point, Pete had also started saying “Howdy” too, and his face reddens as he exclaims, “wait, that’s my word!” Chasten grins and doesn’t think about the fact that he’s working, because Peter looks completely nervous and flustered and adorable. 

“Where are we going?” Chasten starts the car.

“Downtown. There’s a local pub I like. Do you like scotch eggs?”

Dinner turns into a baseball game. South Bend has a minor league baseball team and Peter’s bragging about it like he owns it. Chasten would love to tease him about it but he can’t because Peter  _ still  _ hasn’t mentioned his job and it feels like something Chasten only recognizes because he knows too much. As they’re walking to the entrance, Peter finally says, “I should probably let you know that a couple people might come talk to me while we’re here. I have kind of a public-facing job.” 

Chasten doesn’t bat an eye, just casually says, “Oh? What do you do?”

“I’m the mayor.”

He realizes that it actually is kind of a plus that he can act when he tries to look shocked but not  _ too _ shocked. “Is that why the bartender tried to give you a free drink? I thought he just thought you were cute.” 

Peter bites his lip and laughs before nodding. “I didn’t think you noticed that.”

Chasten laughs a little and lets it seem like he’s processing what Peter just told him. After a minute or two he says, “So these people who might come up to talk to you, will they probably have good things to say about you?”

“I certainly hope so, but people have started complaining about the traffic from the construction which is kind of my fault.” Peter seems both amused and genuinely concerned as he says this, like the traffic in South Bend is something he thinks about entirely too often.

“There is no traffic here. Have you been to Chicago? That’s traffic.”

Peter raises his hands up as if to say ‘what can you do?’ as they find their seats. 

He was right, people  _ did _ want to talk to him about traffic, and about potholes, and about their school systems. He occasionally could end the conversation and go back to talking to Chasten, but it was mostly a steady stream of people stopping on their way to or from the concession stand. Chasten sits back and watches Peter in his element, finding it much more entertaining than the baseball game. 

Peter gets away from someone asking him about construction on their street and leans over to Chasten. “It’s almost over, wanna leave?” Chasten smiles and follows him out, making it out of the gates as the crowd cheers suddenly. Peter glances back to see what happened, and then bites his lip and looks over at Chasten. “Sorry we couldn’t stay for the end.”

“I don’t actually like baseball that much.”

Peter seems genuinely perturbed by this and Chasten takes his hand as they continue walking. He laughs a little and says, “I just wanted to spend some more time with you.”

The look on Peter’s face at Chasten’s words makes him feel both incredibly smug and incredibly guilty. He lights up like no one has ever flirted with him before. Chasten squeezes his hand and winks to ease the tension, and Peter laughs and it sounds like happiness. 

“Would you like to do this again? Without baseball?” 

Chasten grins, “We can do this again anytime you want.”

There are suddenly fireworks coming from the baseball field behind them, and they stop walking to look back at them. The light reflects off Peter’s eyes when Chasten glances over, and before he can stop himself he’s pulled Peter closer. He waits a beat to let Peter back away if he wants to, but then he kisses him, feeling as Peter’s entire body tenses up and then relaxes. 

He pulls away slightly and Peter opens his eyes to meet his. 

“You didn’t have to wait for the fireworks.” He’s grinning even more now, which Chasten didn’t think was possible. 

He laughs, “I’ll remember not to wait next time.”

They walk back to the car hand in hand, and Peter looks at his watch. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to make it to your parents tonight?”

Chasten has completely forgotten that he said that’s what he would be doing. He doesn’t want to drive back to Chicago tonight, but he’s under strict orders from Lis not to stay in South Bend afterwards. 

“I like to drive at night. I play my music really loud and there’s no traffic, you can’t beat it.”

They talk about music while Chasten drives him home and makes all sorts of jokes about Peter’s terrible taste in music. When he pulls into the driveway, Peter turns to face him. “I’m glad you came.” 

He looks so nervous and determined that Chasten can tell he wants to kiss him, that it’s important he gets to make a first move, and Chasten lets him have that. Maybe one day he’ll ask why it’s important, but right now he just decides to let Peter have this moment he almost definitely was deprived of as a teenager. He does lean forward a bit in encouragement, just because he’s sure that if he waits until Peter has worked up the nerve that he really will be here overnight. Finally,  _ finally _ , Peter leans in. He’s so slow in every uncertain movement, and when he pulls back to whisper “drive safe,” Chasten can’t figure out why he suddenly feels like he’s the one who just got hooked.

The entire way back to Chicago, Chasten feels so guilty that he never bothers to turn up his music. 

It’s 1:45 when Chasten makes it back to the city, but he’s not tired. He’s spent the entire drive thinking about Peter. Peter planning a new date after Chasten was late to his first idea. Peter nervously bringing up his job and looking embarrassed every time someone needed to talk to him. Peter being worried that Chasten didn’t enjoy the baseball game. Peter being kissed under the fireworks. Peter anxiously leaning in to kiss Chasten goodnight. Peter still being awake to make sure Chasten got to his parents’ safely. Chasten needs a drink. But more importantly, he needs to end this now. “Are you awake?”

“Well I fucking picked up, didn’t I?” 

Chasten might have been offended by Lis’ answer but he starts talking anyway. “I can’t do this. I won’t. He’s a nice guy and I can’t--”

“Hey. Relax. Where are you? I’m in town, we can talk in person. Name the place and I’ll be there soon.” Lis sounds slightly softer than she did a second ago. Chasten tells her about a diner near his apartment that he likes and that stays open late for the college crowd. 

He’s staring into a cup of coffee when she walks in. One side of the diner is full of a group of drunk undergrads, a few of whom Chasten recognizes from class. He chose the other side for some quiet, but regrets that now as Lis walks over. She catches the eye of the waitress and points at Chasten’s mug, silently asking for one herself. 

“Tell me what happened,” she says as she slides in the booth across from him.

“Nothing happened. He’s a nice guy, you don’t need to hire someone to date him. Let him do it on his own. I don’t want to do this. You haven’t even paid me. We can just end this now.”

Lis is quiet as the waitress brings her coffee and refills Chasten’s. Finally, she sighs. “He  _ is _ a nice guy. So are you. It’s obvious you like what you saw tonight. Don’t think about the money if it upsets you.”

“The money isn’t what upsets me!” His voice is high, suddenly, and he takes a breath before continuing. “I’m lying to him. It’s not fair to him. He’s more than capable of finding someone on his own, there’s no reason that it has to be me.”

“If we waited for him to find someone on his own, he won’t be ready for 2020.”

“That doesn’t even make sense. Do you hear yourself? You want to find him a perfect husband for a presidential run? He’s a man. Dating men. The perfect husband for a man in politics doesn’t exist.”

Lis leans forward. “That’s exactly why we have to do this, Chasten. That’s exactly why we have to get this right. We have to move this country forward, and if we’re going to do that every move has to be perfect. You won’t hurt him. You’re helping him. He wants to make history too.”

It’s quiet for a few minutes. Chasten wants to argue but he can’t find the words. It all feels so unfair and he can’t stop thinking about how nervous and excited Peter was. He briefly wonders if tonight was his first real date, and then has to swallow a bigger sip of coffee to keep from panicking at the thought. 

“Is this how it always works?” he finally asks. Lis looks at him a little confused, so he continues, “Is it always just people moving chess pieces around in politics? Is any of it real?”

“Real has a lot of different meanings. It’s real that he’ll make a great president. It’s real that he has brilliant ideas that will probably save the fucking republic. It’s real that a lot of the country will have preconceived notions about him because he’s gay. It’s real that that means he will need some help getting around those and proving those people wrong. It’s real that you can help him do that.”

He doesn’t answer. He’s suddenly so tired. He hates all of it, but he suddenly feels protective over Peter. He’s worried that if he manages to find a way out, the person they replace him with won’t be as protective. He can do it, he can take care of this nervous man who is just learning how to be himself at the same time he has to be introduced to the world. He can help him live out his dreams that he probably thought weren’t possible for him. He can hold onto that guilt, bottle it up inside and lock it away for the greater good. 

Chasten looks down and finishes his coffee. “Don’t fuck this up for him.” 

Lis nods, but Chasten isn’t sure if he meant that for her or himself. 


End file.
